Friday, February 28, 2014

PLEASE WELCOME YOUNG ENGLISH ACTOR - ANOTHER VICTIM OF BULLYING WHO HAS NEVER TOLD HER STORY BEFORE

TANYA DUNFORD

1Please tell us a little bit about your background.

A: I am 24 years old; I graduated East 15
Acting School in 2013 with a First Class Honours degree in World Performance. I
grew up in a small city called Peterborough, which is located in
Cambridgeshire, England. I have a very supportive family and great group of
friends, who all play a massive part in the reason I am following my dream. I
try to live life with a smile on my face and I love to make people laugh - you could
say I was the class clown.

2You are an actor and have been in film & stage
crew. Have you always aspired to be in
the entertainment industry or did you want to do something else when younger?

A: I have always aspired to be in entertainment. I have
been acting since I was 5 years old, I played Tom Baker’s'Doctor Who' in an
adaptation of 'Sleeping Beauty'. Obviously it wasn’t the role of a life time as I
mainly ran out on stage with a coat and scarf that were too big for me, but it
gave me a feeling that I can’t really describe and ever since I have loved to
act.

As well as acting I have also worked backstage in
amateur productions and professional productions since I was about 13 and I
would say I have an equal love for both on stage and backstage work.

3As an actor, have you had any professional training?

A: Yeah, I had
the great opportunity to study a BA (Hons) World Performance at East 15 Acting
School 2010-2013. Where I was able to study not just traditional acting styles
and techniques but I had the opportunity to study many different acting styles
from around the World such as Balinese Character Dance, Indian Dance, Brazilian
Playground Theatre and many more. I couldn’t believe it when I opened the
letter of acceptance - it seemed unreal that I had been given a chance to study
at a CDS Drama School.

4Are you professionally managed or do you represent
yourself?

A: Currently I
am representing myself.

5Have you acted alongside any ‘big’ names?

A: I haven’t
acted with any big names, but I have worked backstage for a couple.

6Who and/or what are your inspirations?

A:My inspiration, I would say, is just to be
able to live comfortably off an acting career and not have to have a second job
to pay the rent. I know most people reading this would properly be thinking “Oh
yeah don’t want to be famous?”…well I am not going to lie - if the opportunity
ever came round I wouldn’t say no, but I am not in this industry to be known - I
am in it cause I love it.

As for my inspirations, there are many
actors/ actresses that I adore such as Tom Hanks, Jonny Depp, Judi Dench,
Maggie Smith, etc but my main inspiration is Julie Walters, and this may sound
corny but if I could be half the actress she is I would be over the moon!

7Is anyone else in your family or relations in
‘showbiz’?

A: Not
professionally let’s say. My Great Uncle used to direct a ‘Gang Show’ every
year, which I was a member of for around 7 years. Then there’s my Granny who is
a Wardrobe Mistress at an Amateur Dramatic Society, which myself, my Mum, and
my Sister have helped out in.

8Where do you see your career in ten years’ time?

A:This is
always a question I find hard to answer - I would love to say established,
comfortable and on the right path. But you never know what might
happen…actually, no, let’s be positive - I will be established, comfortable and on
the right path!

9Have you ever been bullied?

A: Now this is
question I knew would be hard for me to answer as I have never spoken about it
before. The quick answer is - yes - I wish it wasn’t but sadly it is true. However
I was not bullied by the conventional “secondary school kids”. I think I kind
of skipped getting picked on by choosing to be the class clown, cause, well, how
can they make fun of you if you’re making fun of yourself? Although when I was
in year 6, so around 10/11 years old because I misheard something a dinner lady
said, she decided to come into my class room after lunch, offer me a red card
in shape of some underwear (we had red cards as a form of discipline), and say,
and I quote: “Tanya this is because you are pants, you will always be pants and
never amount to anything”, and that has always stuck with me which is why I
always doubt myself.

The people I
was mainly bullied by, however, were complete strangers, which is why I think I
have never spoken about it because I was ashamed. I have been bullied verbally
and physically all because of my size, people shouting odd comments down the
street, out the car windows. I am over weight - yeah, I know - I don’t need
reminding. And when I say physically bullied I was never beaten up, (although I
have been kicked a couple of times) instead I have been spat at, from behind
and in the face on a few occasions and I have had an ice cold bucket of water
chucked over me from someone’s bathroom window, with the following words
“That’s to help you cool down fatty”, which was right near the back gate of
school, allowing me to hear for the next few weeks murmurs at school of people
saying “that’s the bucket girl”. There are many other accounts, but I won’t go
into them now.

10Whether you have been bullied or not, do you feel the
governments and schools around the world are doing enough to try to combat this
problem?

A: Personally
no. The way my school dealt with it was ‘if you weren’t in school, or all
participants weren’t in school uniform then it is nothing to do with us’.

11What more do you feel the above could do to try to
either decrease this problem hugely, or eliminate it altogether?

A: This is something which is quite
difficult to answer. Probably to have someone you can talk to, someone who
won’t make you feel ashamed of asking for help, someone who won’t fob you off
with a sorry excuse of why it is nothing to do with them.

12Is there anything, on a personal level, that you would
like to do to help in this fight?

A:I would love
to help fight bullying; I wouldn’t know what to do, or where to start. Apart from
asking people to keep an eye out for it, don’t ignore it, if you see someone
you don’t know being bullied an encouraging word from someone else can make all
the difference.

13What is in the pipeline for Tanya Dunford for 2014?

A: I have quite
a bit of storytelling in the pipeline for this year, and I have an idea for an
event that is brewing.

14Do you have a message you would like to impart to the
world?

A: Hard work
always pays off, but don’t forget to take a little time to relax with family
and friends.

15Is there anything further you would like to add?

A: Not that I
can think of, apart from thank you for reading, and sorry if I bored you.

16Would you please add any and all professional links
you would like included here?

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About Me

Lannah was born in South Australia in 1955, and raised on "Pitcairn Station". Her primary education was provided by School of the Air and correspondence lessons, followed by boarding school in Adelaide. Later, she went on to hold a variety of positions in Adelaide and then in other states.
After travelling overseas she returned home via Western Australia and decided to settle there. Lannah and her husband, Stuart, have two daughters, Robyn and Fiona, both in their twenties.
Lannah works full time. She is passionate about her family, animals, the outback of Australia, and writing, among many other interests.